The New York Herald Newspaper, August 9, 1873, Page 3

FRENCH SUMMER RESORTS. | A Series of No Watering Place Letters by E. C. Grenville Murray---No. 1. THE AVERAGE FRENCHMA A Lively Picture: of His Public and Private | Life. “THE FROG HE WOULD A WOUING GO.” The Wardrobe of the Travelling Francais and Francaise. BY THE SEASHORE. The Fashionable and Unfashionable Follies That Impressed Mr. Murray at Dieppe. REMOVING THE GLOSS FROM SNOBBERY. DIEPPE—NO. 1. . Dierre, July 12, 1873, FROGS ON THE HOP. ‘The frog, though a lively little creature, is not much of a traveller, and is seldom found far away from home. Baden Baden and the watering places en the Norman coast are nearly the utmost extent ef a Frenchman’s pilgrimage in search of pleasure, Seme adventurous spirits, eager for public employ- ment, pushed as far as the Pyrenees during the Piping days of the Second Empire, because the Empress liked to be within easy reach of her, mother and her old associations. Now and then @ decrepid old Minister, and those who had anything to hope or to fear from him, moved down to Vichy; and gentlemen of a romantic turn of mind, who had persuaded their neighbors’ wives to accompany them, and who had no particular wish to be shot or skewered by frantic husbands or exasperated brothers, found a port of refuge for their frail craft at Venice or Naples. Nevertneless, ‘THE FRENCHMAN PROPER, im sound health and spirits, who has neither the fear of duns nor avenging skewers before his eyes, always keeps and always has kept within easy reach of Paris. He has mot the passionate desire to wash himself at any cost of trouble, expense and inconvenience which seizes upon the German races directly the ‘warm weather sets in; and people who have lived Jong in Germany and in France will understand the reason why Frenchmen look upon watering places With a cooler eye than their conquerors. All the biessed Winter and Spring, as well as for ® great part of the Autumn, a thoroughbred Ger- man shuts himself up with his wife and family (oiten very numerous) in a room heated by a tremendous stove, so that he and they become half baked and quite crusty towards the month of June. Now the French- man never thinks of moving at all tll the latter end of July or the beginning of August. He generaily lives in an extremely airy situation; he is seldom a married man, and rarely, indeed, has e@ large family. His object in this life is to amuse Rimself; so he lives in the street, warms himself parsimoniously at his casé—never saw a stove in the course of his existence—and goes to bed without a Gre. He is not a friend of water, except when it is mixed with red wine; and his diet, unlike that of those mighty feeders, the Germans, is far too tem- perate to make him feel hot and uncomfortable in ‘Winter or Summer. THE REGENERATION IN FRANCE. It-ia said that of late the French have been imi- tating the Germans, and nations generally do imi- tate their conquerors; but the true Parisian will always have much the same dread of cold water as @ cat or a monkey. As for regeneration in other respects, it seems very far off indeed. The people really laugh at the idea of it. Then, at Rouen, on the high road to Dieppe, there is the best open-air concert in the world. Every night a man dressed up as Julius Cesar appears before crowds of mock- img spectators, He says or sings with strange centortions, ‘Aus ames bvien nées que la patrie est chére!”” The spectators are amused, not impressed, with this idea; and presently he lays aside bis helmet and his sword. “Voyez vous,” says he, “ces choses 14 me génent,”’ and again the people laugh. Possibly the French de- feats have done more to explode the warlike idea than all the peace congresses. It is certain that they are getting to have a merry contempt for military glory. “a FROG HE WOULD A WOOING GO.” When your Frenchman has made up his mind to travel he has really no notion of sea bathing or fine scenery. If there is one thing more cer- tain than another it will be that he is running after @ petticoat, The business and occupation of the man’s life are tomake love. His trade or profession is «quite @ secondary thing in bis sight, and is only agreeable in so far as it may be made to contribute to the ene grand purpose of his existence. Thus bent Bpon conquest, he gets himself up in a most as- tonishing manner before he takes the road to the wea. He wants a small straw bat, about the shape and size of a cheese-plate, with a blue riband round it, He wants a “stik,” with a gingerbread knob, to carry under his arm, and a hot pea- jacket, which he calls a “‘saute-en-barque,” having fally resolved to have nothing todo with barks or boats if he can help it, because he is, as he ‘would say, @ “biped,” and not by any means a water dog. Then he requires some varnished shoes, an opera glass and some wax for his mus- taches. Thus equipped he gives chase to every ‘woman he sces, till he is taken into custody by some energetic young lady of his own persuasion as to time contracts in matrimony; or, as happens quile ‘as often, he has his ears cuffed by an irate gentle- belonging to her, and perhaps there is talk of ‘skewering match” or frog duel, which satisfies the honor of all parties, at the cost of a scratch or two, and then the lady is fully prepared to marry them both, one alter the other, if her list of pros- Pective husbands is not too full already. “Un homme, deux hommes, trois hommes, quatre hommes ne nont jamais fait peur," says a popu- Jar song of the day, and, indeed, the bravery of these ladies is proverbial, rs At is fortunate for them that they are courageous, for the French genticman is no sooner by the sea- Side than he wants to bathe with them. ‘Mais, Monsieur, je vous dis que les réglements sy op- Posent,” growis the bathing man—a very odd fish, got up in an amazing manner—so there is, for- tunately, an end of that part of his adventure. VELOCIPEDES AT SEA. One of the chief amusements of a Frenchman at watering places is to dash about on velocipede, Costumed as & jockey ; another is to walk about half- naked, with a littie dog in a@string following; a third te to stand in the sea up to one’s knees under an umbrella and to smoke cigarettes; a fourth is to go the round of the churches at mass time for @irting purposes. No Frenchman ever thinks of taking a bold header and swimming out into deep water. FRENCH THRIFT. When an American or an Englishman goes to & watering place he commonly pats np at the most expensive hotel or commits himself helplessly to the tender mercies of those harpies who keep lodging houses, Nine times in ten he is a busy fan who wants 4 little rest and relaxation after hard work. Not so the frog. He skips about briskly enough in his business, but he is never overwrought. Famijiar with amusgngnt and NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1873—WITH SUPPLEMENT. baving. commonly s leap purse, he is deter- mined to have bis pleasure cheap. He hires a gar- retin a fisherman’s cottage, varnishes bis shoes with bisown hands and shines out in them after- wards as brilliantly a8 if he had paid a crowd of su- percilious waiters for brightening taem. He leaves Dis luggage at the station and spends a whole day in going from house to house, till he has found a bedroom for next te nothing. The man (or woman indeed) lives, and means to live, in the open air. He does not want a fine apartment to sleep in; any dust hole will do for that; and he can perform his ABLUTIONS IN 4 PIE DISH, or without one, if there is no pie dish to be had. ‘The words ‘comfort’ and “decency” have hardly any meaning for him. He does not care for comfort; and, as & matter of fact, he does not like ‘“‘decency.”” He considers ita “prej- udice.” He does not dine about expensively. He puts bimself en pension, which means “on board,” at bis fisherman's house. He bargains for every dish which is to be served to him; and if there is one short he makes a riot about it, as though he were a monkey pinched by the tail. A pleasant little gentieman he is, however, when his bargain- ing ts all over, and he sips his gooseberry syrup and iced water at his cat. On the whole, when all is said and done, the French watering places are far infertor to the Ger- man ones, The fact ts, Frenchmen do not really care for anything out of Paris, Here, however, is the best that can be said of the best of THE PRENOH WATERING PLACES at the present moment. I have come for a fortnight’s spurt along the watering places of tne Norman coast, leaving Part sians to roast like chestnuts in the hot sun of the boulevards, The review of the new and fully dis- organized French Army, in honor of the Shah, ts over; the Assembly will be prorogued in a few days, and the members of that august body, feeling as much need for fresh air as oysters do about this time, are flocking seawards in their alpaca coats, relying on MacMahon to keep the State pantry safe im their absence, Two of them travelled hither with me from Paris—the one general, with not much real hair, but plenty of false ; tne other aradi- cal, who has left the immortal principles of 1789 in his city lodgings and brought with him a Panama hat, a pair of white pantaloons ands fishing rod in- stead. This rod leads'to a mild pun on the partiof the General, who says, ‘Toujours pécheur?” and the radical grins, for he and the General have shouted at each other so often from opposite ‘sides of the Versailles theatre that, now they have started to bathe their manly limbs in salt water, it seems but natural they should proclaim A BHORT TRUCE. We had a pleasant ron down, discassing, with no more heat than that which the sultriness of a July night supplied, whether the young Prince Imperial, who ts in Switzerland, would make a ratd over the frontier next 15th of August and restore the eagle efigy upon the two-sou pieces of a loyal people; but the General's wife, who has been ir a condition of subdued coma ever since beholding the million dollars’ worth of diamonds on the Shah's coat by electric light, turns the politics by observing to me that the stars look like precious stones, which they do somewhat, though distantly. This brings us to the Rouen refreshment room, which I remember to have last seen when Manteuffel was occupying the city af@ pressing down upon the Rouennese like a flagstone on frogs. There was one of the same waiters then as now—s bustling Frenchman, one umbrella and a half high, and whiskers that flap out on either side of his face Mke wings and look as if they were going to fly away with his head. He was fiuely civil to the Prussians and 18 civil to us; gete us a table, tells as we have an hour to spend, and asks whether we will have some jelly with a little veal round it and a bow! of straw- berries steeped in claret to follow. They have been establishing a ccokery school in London and teach- ing the British mind to understand an omelette, Some English confectioner ought to travel over here and preach to the French the beauties of a strawberry mess; that is, strawberries mashed, with ice cream and sugar, sucn as Etonians do love and eat, for claret over the strawberries sheds too bright a color on this world of sin, We make up a party of eight (a Russian, his wife and two daughters being co-tenants of our carriage) and by the time the last strawberry has gone the General’s wife feels her interest in subsidereal matters revive, the radical is more sanguine about THE PROSPECTS OF REPUBLICAN DOCTRINES than he was an hour ago, and the Russians evi- dently fall to hoping that they may linger in these jatitudes all theirlives and never see their loved country again. They are pretty young ladies, these Khersonese Count’s daugnters, and prattie French with @ purity which seems natural to all Russians speaking other tongues than theirown. So is the Generai’s wife pretty, for she might pass for her gallant husband’s granddaughter, and both she and the Russians are disposed to be mirthfal when we get into the train again and the General Telates the story of a determined man who wanted to found atemperance and anti-tobacco paper in Paria some months ago. As such a thing had never been seen before President Thiers feared its influence on the excise revenues and was for or- dering the editor to hold his peace. But a sharper judge of men than the President—none other, in fact, than M. Pouyer-Quertier, member for that very Rouen which we have just left—suggested that if the paper were interfered with the electors of Belleville and Montmartre would espouse its theories out of simple spite to the government. “Much better,” said he, “write to the editor, telling him to go in aud win; and so Barthelemy St. Hiliare, Thiers’ secretary, did this, and the editor of the Temperance and Anti-Tobacco Advocate 18 now at the top of the list for examination in the Bankruptcy Court, after along vacation. And so, amid this discoursing, we reach eleven o’clock by slow and easy stages, and soon after arrive at DIEPPE. Would it be believed that this town, which is now a small copy of Brighton, was once more pow- erful than Marseilles and held its own against Venice, Genoa and Antwerp? In the fifteenth cen- tury it had 60,000 inhabitants; its sailors were the hardiest in France, and claimed to have sailed round the Cape of Good Hope before the Portu- guese. It is certain that they captured the Cana- ries, and were among the first visitors to the New World, exploring Florida and opening the fur trade in Canada. They also established the earliest European cviony im Senegal and had the largest trade with the East Indies. In the reign of Francis I. (1515-47) the prosperity of the town had risen to such @ pitch that a Dieppe merchant, Jean Ango, having a grievance against the King of Portugal, manned a feet of his own and sent it up the Tagus, with orders to bombard Lisbon unless satisfaction were given him, whereat satisfaction was given him with some alacrity, This man has been calied the French Medici, and he was so important a person that the King did him the honor of paying hima | State visit, which honor in those days was not quite a joke, for kings travelled with a retinue of 500 souls, who were always hungrier and thirstier than other people. Ango seems to have cracked 10,000 bottles of Burgundy, 5,008 of Canary, 2,000 of Malmsey, 1,000 of port and 100 hogsheads of Bordeaux, and to have kept His Majesty and suite, as well as half the port of Dieppe, IN A STATE OF HILARITY during a fortnight. He is devoutly reverenced for these and other just works, and when the propo- sal to canonize Columbus was first made the Dieppese put in aclaim for Ango, and memorial- ized Cardinal Antonelli on the subject. It shows of what iriable materials the wealth of cities is batit up, that all the greatness of Dieppe should have collapsed in @ single day when @ British feet, under Admirai Berkley, bombarded the town in 1694, after an unsuccessful attack on Brest. Neyer was such a business-like bombardment before or since, Scarcely a single house but was knocked to pieces or burned, and as Havre had just then be- gun to set up in rivalry to Dieppe, this bombard- ment settled the dispute forever in favor of the younger competitor. Havre was in a better sitaation for communicating with Paris by the Seine, se the Dieppe merchants, instead ef rebuilding their houses, migrated there, At the beginning of the present century poor Dieppe had well nigh dwindied down to a fishing village, and the Duchess of Berri coming here during the Restoration, could find no decent hovgl or jurnisied house tO Jey She took to patronising the decayed place out of kindness for its past memories, and it has been steadily reviv- Ing ever since as @ fashionable watering spot and & fishing port. It further retains one vestige of its ld commercial importance im the shape of the ivory trade, which is its special feature—indeed, almost the monopoly—of the town, and three shops out of five are devoted to the sale of ivory orna- ments, crucifixes, parasol sticks, statuettes, card cases—some of them of rare workmanship, THE FIRST THING TO DO on arriving bere is, as im mogt other places, to find a hotel, and the choice ia extensive enough, for Dieppe virtually comprises three boroughs, grouped ke Southsea, Portsmouth and Gosport, in Eng- jand. The Gosport of Dieppe ts Le Pollet, an al- together primitive quarter, whose inhabitants have politely but firmly declined to factlitate communt- cations with the rest of the town, so that you must go more than a mile round to get at them, though they might be reached in five minutes bys fying bridge between the wo piers that form the harbor, and in balf 9 second by a pistol “shot ont of the window of the Hotel de Londres, om the Qual Henry IV. This quay isin the commercta) district— the Portsmouth of Dieppe—and immediately oppo- site the harbor, whence the packets come in twice @ day from Newhaven. If you want to see French seaport life, to be awoke early in the morning by the shouts of sailors weighing anchor for the cod and herring fisheries, to be en- lvened by French soldiers strutting to drill under your windows with bugling and music enough to get the dead waltzing; if you like the sight of pas- sengers pelting away with a freight of carpet-bags and railway rugs, stumbling over ropes, running into the arms of Uustom House officers and towing fluttered women and panting children after them, all with the view of catching the boats, which are always late in sailing, the Quai Henri IV. is the place for you, Frenchmen are a perpetual surprise and spectacle to the contemplative foreign eye. They do nothing like ordinary people. ‘The'sallors, for instance, work less than British or Swedish seamen, but they halloo in such wise as to imapire you with the highest possi- ble estimate of their achievements, so that it takes yon some time to real- ize that one of yonder sullen Swedes has holystoned four-fifths of adeck while his French mate, who has been giving tongue for an hour, has not scoured @ square yard. Then they quarrel, these Frenchmen, and if yo sit at your window smoking a cigarette at early morning, while the bright morning sun ts glinting over the waters of the harbor, like saffron, you have the excitement of hearing NATIVE SAILORS vow to filng each other into the basin twenty times in as many minutes. But somehow the event never comes off, The only tfme I ever saw & French sailor take @ plange was one morning when a diminutive specimen of the race put his fist an- der the nose of a moody giant who looked like @ Dane. This sad man lifted his enemy silently by the seat of his inexpressibles and the collar of his shirt, swang him .twice to and ro, de- spite his roars, aud pitched nim headlong under the keel of a Sunderland collier. On ordinary occasions, however, the champions, after yelling to each other hysterically to ‘come on!” are tagged apart by mutual friends, also shouting, and meet presently in one of the old painted wine shops, where glasses.of brile-museau (cider, absinthe and brandy mixed) make them fast chums till the next wrangle. The commission- natres are & howling race, too, besides being the most tatterdemalion crew alive, andit is a sight worth watching to see a bewildered British family fall out of the Custom House into the midst of the raging pack of searecrows, who make grabs at their luggage and attempt te haul them off to this or that hotel or to cabs. I fancy they get little by ‘their tooting, for Dieppe is the high road of cheap tourists, who go to Paris by the longer sea route to avoid the expense of the Calais line, and they are not inclmed to patronize commis- sionnaires very prodigally. They generally make a stand and bawi in ily chorus, “Alley voo zon!”” though they havea coolness eminently English in assuring everybody that it is not for the economy, but simply for the pleasure o1 the thing, that they take a good spell of sea sickness, dispense with commissionnaires, omnibuses and flacres, and trudge from harbor to station, through blinding rain or choking dust,on foot. One of the last things you will catch an Englisiman doing ts to confess parsimony with his lips, and he always ap- pears to imagine that foreigners are too much im- pressed by the grandeur of bis demeanor to detect the innumerable petty meannesses which disclose his poverty. YOUR MIDDLE CLASS ENGLISHMAN has got such a name abroad for battling with cab- men about their pourboires and invoking the name of his consul when he is met with an unexpected demand for twopence-halfpenny that cabmen and porters, who are shrewd rogues at bottom, have learned to say queux comme un Anglais, just as they once said généreux comme un milord, though for the matter of that they still know @ genuine “milord’’ when they see one, and treat him with worship as if specimen of a fossil genus fast disappearing. Englishmen of the pinch- beck sort have also a wonderful trick of clamoring at the extortion of foreign hotel charges, just as if the bleak bedrooms, sodden muffins and Ill-cooked dinners of British hotels could be had for anything like the price which in France affords you not only comfort, but luxury. At the Hotel Royal, for in- stance, where lam staying, you get a bed, break- fast and dinner such as are not to be found in the British Isles, and the prices are reasonable—that is, you need not go beyond a guinea unless you care to do so—thongh the house is the best in the town and full from roof to basement already. [ tried the Quai Henri IV. on a former visit, but the Royal and the half dozen other hotels on the esplanade are most frequented by people who care for sea bathing and cosmopolitanism more than for sights and sounds wholly French. Nationalities are all shuffled together here like cards. We are to the front of us, to the left as we go out, THE CASINO, ing and billiards, bathing, lounging, gossiping, flirting and all else that makes up a quiet life. You subscribe to the Casino by the day, week or month, and you go there in the morning to dip into the sea and the papers, at three for the daily concert and at evening for a ball or @ comedy, if there be | one, and if not you go elsewhere, for there are a theatre in the town and plenty of other amuse- | ments, French people making tt a holy business to amuse themselves and each other so long as human nature will stand it. The most curious thing, though, is the bathing towards eleven, when the sun is hot and people are dreaming of luncheon an hour hence. Imagine a terrace with rows of rash chairs six and seven deep, and filled with ladies, who are popularly sapposed to be not dressed yet, and who, in truth, wear costumes that may cost a few francs less than those in which they wil! blaze | gorgeously during the afternoon. Skirting the terrace is the brown shingle, dotted with lines of bathing machines, littie biue and white things like sentry boxes, not the powerful contrivances on wheels that are drawn down into the water by wheezy horses in England, A narrow | plank track is the only line of demarcation between the ladies’ camp and the men’s, and this plank forms the high road for both sexes into the water. The ladies are elaborately got up to face the waves, their attire being tunic, f KNICKERBOORERS, canvas shoes with oakum soles, generally a sailor’s hat with a blue ribbon and a white burnous, wich drapes them majestically and which they throw of, a8 also their hat, with some defiance as they give their hands to the gallant bather, who leads them to the water as though toa quadrilie. The men, ou the other hand, have none of these things, but shine as Heaven made them, with the exception of @ pair of bathing drawers. Americans and English- men are Much put out at having to walk in full sight of the ladies on the terrace in this scant garb,and they usuailly cloak themselves with asheet; but not so Frenchmen. These proud natives, being habitually small and lean as Febroary fowis, walk with @ martial stride down the plank and often turn te wave their hands to any feminine acquaintances: they may discover on the terrace. As this terrace is but two yards above them nothifig of their ana- tomica) beauty J8 lyst to the benoldes, and, con- in the Southsea part of the town, with the channel | The Casino is @ place of muster and music, read- | | eclous of this, they attitudinize, pause at the sea brink while @ menial pours a bucket of water over their pates, and then, tossing both arms aloit, wade grandly into the ocean, as if they were doing new thing which nobody had had the heart to do before. This morning I saw a Frenchman walk down to the sea in this /ashion, with a Skye terrier under each of his arms, and persuaded, beyond all doubt, that the eye of History was upon him. Two English girls, who had been keeping their eyes sly bent over Tanchnitz novels during the proceasion of previous Frenchmen, could not con- trol themselves at the spectacle of thia‘one with his terriers, so blashed as they laughed outright and cried, “Do look at that ridiculous little man!” But the General’s wife with whom I had travelled yesterday appeared to take a different view of the case, for she brought a double eyeglass to bear on the dogs and their master and exclaimed, “Le Monsteur Achillea veaucoup de distinction” Nor was this unjust, for M. Achille’s legs looked like a pair of highly distinguished nutes. E. C, GRENVILLE MURRAY. @ BUMORS ABOUT OCEAN STEAMSHIPS. The Ernst Merits Arndt, of ¢ Lioyd’s Line—Safety ef the Ali ‘The Cable Story Unfounded. Rumors having been circulated freely for the last two days that the steamship Ernst Merits Arndt, Captain ©. Felberg, now eighteen days due at this port, was probably logs, a HERALD reporter yester- day called at the offices ot the Baltic Lioyd’s line of steamers and ascertained that no apprehension whatever was felt by the company about the ves- sel, Though on July 15 the steamer Westphalia, of the. Hamburg line, passed Ernst Meritz Arndt in latitude 49 degrees, 11 minutes, longitude 22 degrees 4 minutes, the Arndt, being then all right, yet her non-arrival in port need not cause alarm, for the reason that if her machinery broke down afterwards her splendid sailing qualities would enable her to tide over even @n extraordinary dimcuity. The probability is, the agents of the line think, the Arndt’s machinery having broken down, she sailed for some Southern Port, it being imprudent for her to venture to Nova Scotia on account of the Banks. If this supposition should be the correct one, then it would neces- sarily be some weeks before anything would be heard here of the Arndt, The Arndt was well provisioned, probably for. fifty days, 60 that no suffering on board would be Nkely to ensue from a lengthy voyage. She had on board about seven hundred tons of cargo and about one hundred passengers (mostly emigrants) when leaving Stettin, Germany, July 2, and when she touched at Copennagen she took on board 176 addi- tional cabin and steerage passengers, again taking on board 176 cabin and, Bleerage passengers On her arrival at Havre, 5 ndid vessel, being 330° feet long, 38 She isa he feet breadth of beam, 29 feet 9 inches depth and 2,800 tons burden, Her cylinders are 61 and 86 inches in diameter, the stroke is 3 feet 6 inches, and she is built to run thirteen knots an hour un- der a aveam pressure of sixty-flve pounds to the juare inch, ince July 28 the agents of the line in this city have been in receipt daily of telegrams from the European offices inquiring 1f any tidings of the Arndt had been received, but, of course, the an- swers to these have always been in the negative, THE ALABAMA, A cable despatch, from London, published in yesterday morning's papers, announced that it ‘Was supposed the Alabama, of the State line of steamships, had been wrecked, the débris of a wrecked vessel having been discovered off the Trish coast. Yesterday forenoon the agents of the line in this. city sent the following message by cable to London :— QUESTION TO LONDON. August 8, 1873—10 A. M, Luwis T. Morrow :— Press report probable loss of Alabama cas Trish coast. Have youany news? Answer. AL DWIN, THE REPLY. The following despatch was received in reply :— August 8, 1873—1:45 P. M, Bavowr, New York :— Look for Alabama on the 18th. Report unfounded. LEWIS T. MURROW. INYPRENCE, From this it would appear that some inquiries had been made in Ireland as to the débris of the wreck, and as the only way the safety of the Ala- ,bama could be absolutely assured would be by as- certaining that a tota: blunder as to the find: of the débris had been made it may be conclude: that neither the Alabama nor Anchor line steamer Oalifornia, which touched at Londonderry on Sun- day, one day previous to the sailing of the Alabama irom Larne, nor the Trincaria, which left Glas- {pd July 30, nor a Montreal boat, which touched at mndonderry on Sunday, from Liverpool, had met with any disaster. TOWN TALK ABOUT THE VESSELS, As is usual, when even @ mere rumor of @ wreck at sea or a disaster of any kind reaches the pub- lic, the people’s sympathy is at once evoked and eat anguish created among the friends and reia- ives of those who are on board the supposed ill- fated vessel. Yesterday there was much specula- tion among the people relative to the ramors con- cerning the Arndt and the Alabama, and many profound solations of the diMiculties besetting the companies were advanced. But these were, of course, all mere tdle gossip, which does not bear repetition. Up to a late hour last evening the agents of the Baltic Lloyd’s line had not received any definite news from any quarter. OCEAN GROVE CAMP MEETING, Opening Services Yesterday—Notables Expected To Be Present—General Sketch of the Grounds. This now well known and fashionable resort of the more aristocratic Methodists of New York, Philadelphia and cities and places between, is having its second gathering for this season of camp followers. A rtde of an hour in one of the palace | boats of the New Jersey Southern Railroad brings one to the pier at Sandy Hook, from whence the steam cars convey him to Long Branch. A further ride thence by stages, seven miles, over an ex- ceedingly dusty road if the rain has not sprinkled the ground, or a muddy road if too much rain has falien, brings the camp seeker to Ocean Grove, Yesterday the regular meeting ot the sea- son was opened in due form by _ Rev. Jonn S. Inskip, the President of the Camp Meeting Association. The gathering of last Month was distinguished from the present only in name. It was calied a Union Christian Con- vention, while this is a camp meeting. And yet very many Of the same persons who participated in the meeting last month have remained on the ground ever since and will take aotive part in the services of the present gathering. Representa- tives of the Presbyterian, the Baptists, the Society of Friends and other denominations are present, and have been there ali along for a couple of | months, ‘There are over THREE HUNDRED COTTAGES on the grotitds, and a little less number of tents also, Four pretty good hotels (not merely lodging houses) supply the physical wants of the people, while some fifty or seventy-five preachers present, including Revs. Inskip, Hughes, Boardman, Levy and others minister to their spiritual neces- ities. Being 80 convenient to Long Branch, cean Grove is every year assuming a more per- manent appearance, and the tendency is strong to build cottages thereon. The principal article ot food used is fish, which is easily furnished trom the ocean and the lakes, The bathing is excellent and is very freely induiged in, nigat and morning, The voice of prayer and praise is heard at five or six A. M., and continues to be heard until at least the regulation hour of ten at night, when ail public services are expected to close promptly at the sound of the bell. But the private and family de- votions heh at that hour and keep going until nearly midnight, so that very little sieep can be obtained before that hour. Board can be had on the groands at the rate of $125 per day or $1 per day for & longer period. THE SLEEPING ACCOMMODATIONS are charged for at the rate of fifty or seventy-five cents per night, according to location and size of bed. A few improvements bave been made since last year and others are in process of performing and in contemplation, A great desideratum is the spur of the railroad which the New Jersey Southern Railroad Company promised last year, it i dl, tO have had ready for the present season, dd for which rat been partly Jaid. But noth more has be ne since last season to lessen the dis- tance or the time of travel between the Branch and the Grove, Tne Camp Meeting Association declare now that they will lay rails and runa horse car train at regular intervals between those points, Something of the sort shouid be done and done promptly. Next Sunday is expected to be a great day in the Camp Grove, and before the meet- ings close Bishop Simpson, who is residing at Long Branch; Dr. Fowler, of Chicago, who is temporartly there; President Grant, and other lay and clerical notabilities, are expected to exhibit themselves on the ground, A REGIMENTAL EXCURSION, On Sunday evening several companies of the Seventy-ninth regiment ighlanders), N. G. 3, N. Y., will go on an excu a to Philadelphia, un- der command of Major Joseph Laing, returning to this city on Tuesday. The officers and members will go fally armed and kilted and will start from Jersey City at a quarter past cight P. M. The head- quarters of the regiment will be at the Clarendon Hotel in Philadeipmia, The usuafceremonies will take Dlace in phat city, | is to continue Friday, BREEZES FROM. THE SEA. Movements of President Grant and Family. A Successful Senson at Long Branch. THE COTTAGERS. The Extra August Meeting at Monmouth Park. The Programme of Three Days’ Racing. { ‘A. Brilliant Outlook Saturday. for Lone BRancu, August 7, 1873, President Grant returned to Long Branch at noon to-day, accompanied by Generals Porter and Babcock. Next week he goes to Maine, and will be absent from the Branch for a week. In conse- quence of the critical conditien of Mr. Dent's health, Mra, Grant will rematn at, the cottage, but Miss Nellie Grant and her two brothers will accom. pany the President on his visit. Old Mr. Dent shows symptoms of a general break up of the system, and will not be very likely to continue the battle of life for a much longer period. The season 18, now in full bloom and the weather delightful. The crowd that overflowed all the houses last Saturday swept away all the fears of those who began to give up hopes of the usual rush to the Branch in August, and ever since that day the pleasure seekers have been pouring steadily in ‘until every hotel is well filled and the whole place Wears a gala day appearance. At the rate of ar- rivals this week there will be many thousand more visitors here this year than in any former season The accommodations are now greater than ever; the cottages have more than quadrupled in the past five years, the hotels have been enlarged and improved; and yet there is to-day scarcely a vacant place in any of the first: class houses, and the large colonizing relief secured by the proprietors of the Ocean Hotel is strained to its utmost to afford space for the new arrivals, The number of persons who come down on fying visits, under the inducements offered by the in- creased accommodation afforded by the steamboat and railroad companies, is very great. One meets new faces eyery day at every turn, and they are replaced by others every twenty- four hours. It is getting to be a habit with thousands of New Yorkers who cannot find time or do not care for a longer stay, to run down hére for a day, take a bath and a drive, get rid of the dust and heat of the city, pay a visit to their friends and return home, THE SEASON SOJOURNERS AT THE BRANCH, At the same time the number of families who make @ whole season’s sojourn at Long Branch has largely increased during the past five years and is to-day much larger than at any former period. Ten years ago there were not more than eight or nine New Yorkers to be found living a cottage life here, and to-day they could be counted by fifties. Taking those who are keeptng house here this season, without any refer- ence to a direetory, which would, no doubt, remind me of many more, I recali the following names: — Mr. Cowdrey, the president of a N@w York bank; Mr. Francklyn, of the Cunard line; General Porter, General Babcock, who has built himself a hand- some new cottage, which he will oecupy next season; Dr. Bloomenthal, Mr. J. W. Gerard, the well-known lawyer; Mr. De Forest, of the Mr. Lewis B. Brown, Mr. L, J. Philips, the well- known far dealer; three of the Seligman brothers, one of whom occupies the handsome new dwelling owned and built by the President, opposite to his present residence; Mr. Bent, a wealthy New York importer; Mr. George Wright, a Quaker merchant of New York; Mrs. Billings, with her son and daughter, who are New York people ; Mr. William M. Gautry, of New York; Mr. Jameson, the banker; Mr. Walton and his twosons-in-law, Mr. Hennessey, the ex-Fire Commissioner; Mr. Curtis, ef Thirty-ninth street, the well-known Brooklyn railroad man, and his two sons, the famiiy occupying three hand- some cottages; Mr. Hendricks, the importer, who resides on Filth avenue and Thirty-seventh street; Mr. A. Wolf, the importer; Judge Cardozo, Mr. George A. Heyl, Mr. 8. Cohen, Mr. J. W. Morris, Mr. J. M. Morrison, Mr. L. J. Philleps, the large real estate dealer; Mr. J. 5, Abecasis, who has one of the handsomest places between the Hotel and West End; Mr. Drexel, firm of Drexel, Ca ves & Co; S. 8. Moon, Mr. E. 8. Green, Mr. Rich; Mr. Osborne, of the firm of Osborne & Chapin; Mr. Timothy W. Lord, Mr. C. H. Kimball, Mr. John McKeon, Mr. Charles Bennett, Mr. C. H. Kimball, Mr. J. 8. Davison, Mr. Granville Perkins; Mr. James O'Sullivan, of Brooklyn; Mr. E. Travis, of tne New Jersey Southern Railroad; besides Mrs. Woolley and others, Mr, Lester Wallack’s inimit- able black mustache and dark eyes have been seen dashing past in a stylish turn- out, Then there are the elegant homes of Mrs. Rose, an old Jersey resident; of General Stockton, the brother of the Senator; of Mr. Howell, a large manufacturer of Newark; of ex-Congressman Persy, of Newark; of Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia, and others whose names do not now occur to me. Some two handred cottages along the shore line are now ail occupied, and hence it may be seen that the season visitors at Long Branch are now numerous enough to orm several agreeable circles of society. THE EXTRA AUGUST MEBTING AT MONMOUTH PARK. ‘The great attractions at the Branch during the resent month, outside of the cool air, the delight- 1 surf and the fashionable bustle and excitement at the hotels, will be the August races at Mon- mouth Park. The great success of the regular meeting has established beyond doubt the fact that well conducted races will prove immensely popu- lar with our people, and that we are as much of @ racing community as are our English cousins across the water if we can Sy secure good horses, good riders and goo management. Before many more seasons pass away, we shall have as popular @ racecourse at Monmouth Park a3 John Bull has a} Epsom, and we shall see as large crowds pouring out of New York to witness the American Derby as have for years streamed out of London to attend the Eng- lish Derby. THE RACE FOR GENTLEMEN RIDERS. The first event—and one which is exciting unu- sual interest—wiil be the race on Angust 16 lor arenes riders, Some idea of the probable at- endance May be gathered from the fact that the West End Jockey Club, who are the promoters and managers of the race, have ordered a lunch to be prepared at the Clob House for 160 ladies and gentlemen, to be followed by a dinner for forty of the male sex alone. Mr. Charles P. Crosby, of New York, one of the partners of Judge Fullerton’s jaw firm, is the President of the Club, and 1s using untiring energy to secure a succe: and pleasant race. Mr. Hoey and Mr. Murphy—the junior members of the families, of course—are taking an active interest in the affair, and ail the leading gentiemen of the West End and among the cottages are zealously seconding their efforts. It will no doubt be a very attractive and fashionable peering. ‘The ex- tra meeting which has been called by the regular Monmouth Park Association, of which Mr. Jehn Hoey is President and Mr. William E. Raynor Sec- retary, commences on Wednesday, August 20, and ugust 22, and Saturday, August 23, being three days’ racing in all. The sport is of a varied character, and some of the best horses in the country will be entered for the varions races, The programme for the three days is as follows :— FIRST DAY'S RACES. First Race.—Hurdle race for a purse of $600, of which $100 goes to the second horse, three er more horses to start; mile heats, over four hurdles, the horses to carry 28 los. overweight tor age. This is the first time a hurdle race with mile heats has been ridden in this country, and the contest ex- cites unusual interest, Second —The Long Branch Handicap of $50 each, halt forteit, and only $10 if deg! nor he- fore the 16th of August, with eae Ea TaN? hy second horse to receive $100 ont of the stakes and the third to save his entrance; to ¢lose and name on August 7; weights to appear on Wednesday, 18th, and declarations to be made on Saturday, ppeess Winners, after publication of Weights, of $1,000, to carry five pounds, of $2,000, seven pounds extra. Ifthe highest weight fails to accept, then the weight of those remaining in is to be raised three pounds, Five or more subscribers to fill, and the heats to be one mile and a quarter. Third Race—For & purse of $500 for two-year-olds (winners excluded), Horses that have becn keaiga firm of W. W. De Forest & Co., of South street; ’ 3 once are allowed five pounds in weight; twice, seven pounds, and three times, ten pounds. fhe first horse geta $400, the second $100, The beata are three que mile. Fourth ‘ol wae Of $600, for all age: 100 Ibs.; mares and geldings are aliowe: stakes are the same as in the third race, and the heats a mile and a half. SECOND DAY'S RACES. The First Race—For the second day, Angust 22, is one mile and a half Neats, for the cap given by the cottagers, valued at $600, for three-year-olds, excluding winners. The allowances tor beaten horses are 5 lby., 7 1b3. and 10 Ibs. for one, two and three defeats. The second horse receives 9100. 5 ne Reged is Dey heats, ~ La * F purse of $1,000, of whic! $800 i re horse, $150 to the second and ‘$50 to the thir: Winners of $1,000 are handicapped 3 lbs 5 of $1,500, 5 bs. ; and of $2,000 and upwards, 7 lbs. extra. , The Thir} Race 18 @ seliing face for all , for @ purse of $500, the winner to be sold for $1,000; if entered to be sold for $700, to be allowed 6Jbs, ; for $600, 10 lbs. ; and tor $300, 14 ibs, there is a surplus over the stated selling price on the sale, it goes to the second horse, ‘The beats are one gud a quarter miles, THIRD DAY'S RACHS. The First Race for the third day 18a hurdle handl- cap for @ purse of $800, of which the second horse receives $150 and the third $50. The entries for this race are to be made by tour o'clock P, M., on August he Weights to appear by one P. M. the following day, and acceptances to be made known by four P. M. on the same day. Three or more tostart. Two- mile heats, over eight hurdles, ‘he Second Race is the Jersey Jockey Club Handl- cap of $50 each, half forfeit and only $10 if declared on or before August 16, with $800 added; the second trorse to receive $200 and the third $100 out the stakes. To close and name on August 7. Weights to appear on Wednesday, August 13, and declarations to be made on Saturday, August 16, Winners, after publication of weights, of $1,000 to earry 6 lbs. and of $2,000 7 lbs. extra, Li the ighest welght falls to accept then the weight on those re- maining in is to be raised 3 lbs. Five or more sub- seribers to tll and heats to be two mies and a quarter. The Third Race is mile heats, for all ages, for a purse of $600, with $100 to go to the second horse, maiden allowances—three-year-oids, 5 lbs.; )our- ear-olds, 10 lbs.; five-year-olda and upwards, 12 bs. The Fourth and Last Race is the consolidation purse of $500, for beaten horses only, over one and @ half mile heats, the allowance being—ior one deteat, 7 Ibs. ; for two, 10 Ibs, and for three 14 Ibs, No entrance fee is charged to the purses, A large number of entries have already been made, and £ believe every race is now assured. There will be, no doubt, a larger attendance at this extra meet- ing than there was at the regularmeeting, although the success of the July racing Was beyond the ex- pectations of the most sanguine. A VISIT FROM THE MILITARY. The officers and band of the Eleveyth regiment ofthe New York State National Guatd visited the Branch to-day on an excursion, and had a pleasant time. They were entertained at the great excur- sion house, the West End, where over three thou- Sand guests dined last Monday, and during the day they engaged’ a number of omnibuses and visited the West End Hotel, the Ocean House and other places, giving toeach the compliment of a serenade. THE GREAT PROMRNADE CONCERT AND BALL. The great promenede concert and ball in aid of the Portland sufferers is to take place at the Ocean Hotel on next Saturday evening, and bids fair to be quite a success, although the notice has been #0 short that there may be some slight prospect of a postponement, Such, however, is not now the intention of the managers. Some of the best people at the Branch are interesting themselves in the affair, and there will no doubt be a@ brilliant attendance, The special attraction will no doubt draw an unusual number down on fSatur- day. Many of the leading residents of the cottages will attend, and some of the best musical talent will be engaged. The milliners and hairdressers hereabouts are all anticipating a busy time in preparing the fashion and beauty of the Brancn Jor the ball that is to follow the concert, A PAINFUL RUMOR SET AT REST. The rumor that Mr. Childs, of the New York Cus- tom House, had disappeared created painiul {cel- ings among his friends here, which were happily set at rest to-day by a telegram which stated that the report was incorrect—that Mr. Childs is in good health and has not disappeared at all PERSONAL. Mr. Sharpe, the Surveyor of the Port, was here yesterday and returned to New York this morning. The Secretary of State, Mr. Scribner, is at the West End for a few days, He pays a visit to the Presi- dent to-night. WATERING PLACE NOTES. John W. Forney, Jr., is at Congress Hall, Cape May. John 8. Thrasher, of Galveston, Texas, is en route for Newport. A croquet match will be played next week at Martha’s Vineyard. Gunning 8. Bedford, of this city, is at the Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga. Augustus Schell, of this city, arrived on Tuesday last at Congress Hall, Saratoga. Ethan Allen and family, of New York, have rooms at the Howland Hotel, Long Branch. Mrs, Augustin Daly, wife o: the dramatist, 19 stopping at Congress Hall, Saratoga Springs, The Nahant drive is the beach road to Lynn. is a finely graded and well watered thoroughiare. Bridal parties had better not go to Saratoga Springs for a couple of weeks yet. The rooms are all fall. There are now sojourrging at Saratoga Springs two Governors, seven ex-Governors and two ex- Lieutenant Gevernors, There are four fine hotels at Vineyard Grove, Martha’s Vineyard, whese clambakes and hops are regularly on the bill of fare. William Niblo, of this city, hale and hearty, is spending his filty-ffth season at Saratoga Springs. He puts up at the Clarendon Hotel. General Bragg, better known as “alittle more grape, Capcain Bragg,’ is trying to keep cool at the Warm Springs, in Merriwether county, Ga. Thurlow Weed has been spending a few of the hot days at Catskill, the scene of his boyhood. ‘That is a3 near the mountains as hé dare venture now. The Vineyard Grove (Martha’s Vineyard) Gazette says it is proposed to purchase Isaac Rich’s splen- did cottage at that place and present it to Presi- dent Grant for a Summer resort. ‘The Second brigade of the New Jersey Militia will commence their grand encampment at Cape May on the 18th inst, and continue until the 2d, Governor Joel Parker will visit the fleld. A very pretty young woman in Saratoga ha been in the habit of recetving on an average three flower baskets and five bouquets a day untilit was found out that her husband was in business in Bal- timore, after which she did fot get even a buttou- holer. Lowell Isiand, off Marbiehead, Mass., upon which is located a large Summer ooarding house, now well filled, was sold on Monday at auction— boarders, of course, not included in the sale, al, though the steam yacht Mischief, built by Mr. Lorillard in 1869, went with it. The whole brought $73,500. f Battie Point, on Chesapeake Bay, in Northamp- ton county, Va., wishes to be considered a water- ing place. The hotel accommodations at present consist of two old windmills, which have been ar- ranged for the convenience of visitors, Three negro huts serve a8 cottages at present, but much is promised for next year. A large mansion house is to be constructed and the locality otherwise made inviting. The fishing is unsurpassed. OKELLY'S TREATMENT IN CUBA—A CORREC- TION, New Yor«, August 6, 1873. To THE EpIToR OF THE HERALD:— My friend, Mr. James J. O'Kelly, writing from Madrid under date of 18th ultimo, requests the correction of twe statements in my Havana letter, published in the HERALD of the 7th of June. Mr. O'Kelly desires to be understood as saying thathe considered the British Consals, Dunlop and Craw- ford—not Ramsden—as his real jailers. He also wishes it to be known that he did not ‘sleep on the damp, rough ground of his cell floor’ in Fort Ca- bafias, because Captain de la Torre gave him his hammock, and that no money passed from O'Kelly to any Spanish officer in that forcress. He further says:—"I feel quite ashamed oi appearing, even for @ moment, as the false accuser of gentlemen who treated me with generous kindness and considera- tion.” Concerning Mr. O’Keily’s treatment Im Cabafias, the published letter referred to gives 4 source of information upon which the staremes was based, and as to the Ramsden-Crawford miat- ter I make the correction with much pleasure cha inion in the premises, without changing my owu opinion 1” fir Hie New YORK It Late special correspondent of the HeRALD in Cuba. FATAL AOGIDENT IN WESTCHESTER, ‘At Morrisania, Westchester county, yesterday, Coroner Miller held an inquest @n the remains of an old man named William Fitzgerald, wno was suddenly killed on the preceding day. Deceased, it appears, was driving a heavily loaded ice wagon, and in some unaccountable mauner feil to the ground, when the wheels passed over his neck ¢ ing almost instant death, A ver prdance With these fae ve V VOuis OF 278, ANd eae Decease Jaw Ys Was over